Building Terms

Whilst we endeavour to avoid jargon in our reports, the use of some technical terms is unavoidable.
However, if any part of the report we provide is unclear, please contact the surveyor who will be
delighted to assist further. The list below is very limited relative to the full extent of building terms in
existence, having been deliberately restricted to those which this particular practice employs in its survey
reports.

Addition A projecting structure, or wing, which is part of the original building rather than a subsequent
extension.

Airbrick A perforated brick built into a wall for providing ventilation. Used, for instance, to ventilate the
underside of timber ground floors, blocked fireplaces or a roof space.

Arch A curved structure built to distribute weight over an opening in a wall.

Architrave A moulding around a doorway or window opening. It usually covers the joints between the
frame and the wall finish, thus hiding any shrinkage gaps which may occur.

Arris The sharp external edge where where two surfaces meet at a point.

Asbestos Material used in the past for insulation and fire protection. Can be a health hazard. Specialist
advice should be sought if asbestos is found.

Asbestos Cement Cement mixed with up to 15% asbestos fibre as reinforcement. Typically used in
roofing, rainwater goods, fire-proof linings and various other claddings and linings. It is fragile and will
not usually bear heavy weights. Hazardous fibres may be released if cut or drilled.

Asphalt Black, tar-like substance, designed to be impervious to moisture. Used on flat roofs and floors.

Back Addition The narrower part of a building, or wing, which extends rearwards beyond the main
structure, being an original feature rather than a subsequent extension. This is sometimes called an
outrigger in different parts of the country.

Back Gutter The lining and flashing arrangement at the back of a chimney stack (on the upslope side)
to divert rainwater away from the stack.

Bargeboard Timber, sometimes decorative, placed along the verge of a roof at a gable end.

Balanced Flue A room sealed flue, normally serving gas appliances, which allows air to be drawn to
the appliance from outside whilst also allowing fumes to escape.

Baluster A post or vertical pillar supporting a handrail or parapet rail.

Balustrade A row of balusters, or other infilling, below a handrail on a landing, stair or parapet.

Batten Thin strips of timber, commonly used to support roof tiles or slates.
Bellcast Thickening out of render, in a curved shape, to form a drip to deflect water. Usually found at
the base of a wall, above the damp-proof course.

Benching Shaped concrete slope beside drainage channel within an inspection chamber. Also known
as "haunching".

Binder A length of wood used to provide cross bracing to a set of roof trusses. Also describes the roof
member spanning across ceiling joists to provide improved support.

Birdsmouth A joint or notch cut into a timber (typically a rafter) where it connects with another
timber.

Bitumen Black, sticky substance, similar to asphalt. Used in sealants, mineral felts and damp-proof
courses.

Bond The regular arrangements of bricks, blocks or stones in a wall so that the units may be joined
together. The principal types of bond used in domestic construction are English, Flemish, header,
stretcher, rat-trap, diagonal or garden wall bond.

Brace Diagonal support in a timber door.

Bracing The arrangement of timbers spanning across roof trusses to provide lateral stability

Bressumer A lintel, often timber, over an opening such as a fireplace or bay.

Buttress A brick or stone support to a wall designed to resist lateral movement.

Cames The lead bars in leaded light windows.

Capping The weather-proof finish formed with tiles, or stone or concrete copings, over a wall, parapet
or chimney.

Casement A window composed of hinged, pivoted or fixed sashes.

Cavity tray A moisture barrier inserted above a window or door opening to deflect moisture that
transfers across the outer leaf of brickwork back to the outer face rather than letting it cross the cavity
at lintel level causing dampness internally. In many cases, the lintel itself acts as a cavity tray though this
arrangement is not always appropriate.

Cavity Wall Traditional modern method of building external walls of houses comprising two leaves of
brick or blockwork usually separated by a gap ("cavity") of about 5Omm (2 inches).

Cement Fillet A weatherproofing joint between roof slopes and abutting brickwork such as walls or
chimneys.

Cesspool (cesspit) A simple method of drainage comprising a watertight holding tank, which needs
frequent emptying. Not to be confused with "septic tank".
Chase To cut into plaster, brickwork etc. to receive cables and pipes.

Chipboard Often referred to as "particleboard". Chips of wood compressed and glued into sheet form.
Cheap method of decking to flat roofs, floors and (with Formica or melamine surface) furniture and
kitchen units.

Collar A horizontal tie beam of a roof, which is joined to opposing rafters at a level above that of the
wall plates, designed to restrain opposing roof slopes. Absence, removal or weakening can lead to roof
spread.

Combination Boiler A central heating boiler that also provides hot water instantaneously on
demand, usually within a pressurised system. With this form of boiler there is no need for water storage
tanks, hot water cylinders etc.

Coping/Coping Stone Usually stone or concrete laid on top of a wall as a decorative finish and
designed to stop rainwater soaking into the wall.

Corbel Projection of stone, brick, timber or metal jutting out from a wall to support a weight above.

Cornice A moulding at the junction between a wall and ceiling. Can also include a moulding at the top
of an outside wall designed to project and throw raindrops clear of the wall.

Coving Curved junction between wall and ceiling ie. a type of cornice.

Cowl A terminal to a flue pipe to aid discharge of gases and exclude the weather.

Creasing Projecting course of tiles to a wall or chimney to prevent rain from running down the face of
the brickwork.

Cruck Beams Pairs of curved timbers in period buildings which run from ground level and meet at the
ridge.

Cupola A dome or lantern shaped feature built on top of a roof.

Dado The bottom one metre or so of wall clad with timber, originally designed to provide protection to
the wall, and also covering the area most likely to be affected by rising damp. The top edge is finished
with a Dado Rail.

Damp-Proof Course Layer of impervious material (bitumen felt, PVC, slate etc) incorporated into a wall
and designed to prevent dampness rising up the wall, and lateral dampness penetrating around
windows, doors etc. Various alternative methods are available for damp-proofing existing walls including
"electro-osmosis" and chemical injection.

Damp-Proof Membrane Horizontal layer of impervious material (usually polythene or bitumen)

incorporated into floors or slabs.
Deathwatch Beetle (Xestobium rufovillosum). Extremely serious insect pest that attacks structural
timbers. Usually affects old hardwoods with fungal decay already present.

Dormer A construction with a window that projects from a sloping roof.

Dry Rot (Serpula lacrymans). A very serious form of fungus that attacks structural and joinery timbers,
often with devastating results. Flourishes in moist, unventilated areas, but the spores can survive in dry
conditions.

Eaves The lower edge of a roof.

Efflorescence Powdery white salts crystallized on the surface of a wall as a result of moisture
evaporation.

Engineering Brick Particularly strong and dense type of brick, often used as a damp proof course in
older buildings.

English Bond Brickwork with alternating courses of headers and stretchers.

Fascia A board fixed to the rafter ends along the roof eaves.

Fibreboard Cheap, lightweight board material of little strength, used in ceilings or as insulation to
attics. Considered to be a fire risk.

Fillet A thin strip of wood, cement, slate etc. used to fill a narrow joint.

Flank wall A side wall.

Flashing A sheet cover formed over a joint, such as between a roof covering and a chimney or wall, to
render it waterproof. Normally formed in metal (lead, zinc, copper) or cement.

Flaunching A mortar weathering on the top of a chimney stack surrounding the base of the chimney
pots to throw off the rain and thus prevent it from saturating the stack.

Flemish Bond Brickwork with alternating headers and stretchers in each course.

Flue A smoke duct in a chimney, or a proprietary pipe serving a heat producing appliance such as a
central heating boiler.

Footings Older, usually shallow, form or foundation of brick or stone.

Foundations Normally concrete, laid underground as a structural base to a wall. In older buildings
these may be brick or stone.

French Casement A pair of sashes the height of a door and hinged to serve as a door and window.

Furniture In building terms, the handles, knobs, locks etc. fitted to doors and windows.
Gable Upper section of a wall, usually triangular in shape, at each end of a ridged roof.

Grout Used for filling the joints between wall and floor tiles.

Gully An opening into which rain and waste water are collected before entering the drain.

Gutter A channel along the eaves of a roof or the edge of a path for the removal of rainwater.

Hardcore Broken bricks or stone which, consolidated, are used as a base under floors and patios.

Header A brick laid end on.

Heave Swelling of clay sub-soil due to the presence of moisture. Can cause an upward movement of
floors or foundations in extreme cases.

Hip The sloping angle where two roof planes meet to form a ridge.

Hip Tile A saddle shaped, angular or half round tile fitting over the junction of the roof slopes at a hip.

Hopper Head An open funnel or hopper shaped head at the top of a rain or waste pipe to collect
rainwater and/or waste from one or more pipes.

Hygroscopic The ability to absorb moisture from the atmosphere.

In Situ Describing work done in the place where it is finally required, e.g. concrete may be pre-cast off
site in sections which are later taken to the position where they are required, or it may be cast 'in situ'
on the site itself.

Inspection Chamber Commonly called a manhole. An access point to a drain comprising a chamber (of
brick, concrete or plastic) with the drainage channel at its base and a removable cover at ground level.

Interlocking Tiles Tiles which lock together to form a watertight roof with only minimal lapping.

Invert The lowest part of a drain.

Jamb Vertical side of a doorway or window.

Jointing The mortar bedding between bricks or stones.

Joist A timber or steel beam directly supporting a floor or ceiling.

Key The roughness of a surface which provides a bond for any application of paint, plaster, render,
tiles etc, or spaces between laths or wire meshes which provide a grip for plaster.

Knotting A liquid applied to knots in softwood prior to painting to prevent them showing through at a
later date.

Landslip Downhill movement of unstable earth, clay, rock etc often following prolonged heavy rain or
coastal erosion, but sometimes due to sub-soil having inherently poor cohesion.
Lantern Light A roof light constructed like a lantern with fixed and/or opening glazing.

Lap The overlap of slates, tiles and other coverings.

Lath Any base for plasterwork; typically thin wooden strips or expanded metal.

Lean-to A structure, the sloping roof of which abuts a higher wall.

Ledged A method of door construction whereby the vertical boards are fixed together with horizontal
members (ledges). The strongest design will be ledged, braced and framed but all combinations are
found.

Lining The wood finish to a window or door jamb.

Lintel A horizontal beam over a door or window opening usually carrying the load of the wall above.
Often lintels can be partially or completely hidden from view.

Louvre Slats laid at an angle incorporated into a door or window. Can be hinged to allow
ventilation/light.

Longhorn Beetle (Hylotrupes Bajulus). A serious insect pest mainly confined to the south-east of
England, which can totally destroy the structural strength of wood.

LPG Liquid Petroleum Gas or Propane. Available to serve gas appliances in areas without mains gas.
Requires a storage tank.

Mansard A roof made with slopes of different pitches, usually providing an upper floor of useable
space within a roof structure.

Mastic A generic term for any sealant used in the building process.

Matchboard A board that has a groove cut into one edge and a tongue cut into the other so they fit
tightly together (we use this term to describe a type of door found in some period buildings).

MDF Medium density fibreboard.

Mezzanine A floor between the ground and first floors, often accessed off a half landing.

Mortar Mixture of sand, cement (or lime), and water used to join stones, blocks or bricks, and for
pointing and general filling.

Mullion Vertical bar dividing individual lights in a window.

Newel Post supporting a staircase handrail at top and bottom. Also, the central pillar of a winding
spiral staircase.

Ogee A specific shape where a concave arc flows into a convex arc. An ogee gutter has particular
profile, is usually formed in cast iron, and is still very common in Victorian housing.
Oriel A projecting structure, normally a window.

Oversailing A projecting course of brickwork, either a feature of the construction, or resulting from
structural movement.

Oversite The finish to the ground surface beneath suspended floors.

Pantile A curved roof tile which hooks over adjoining tiles, typical in some 1930 s construction.

Parapet Low wall along the edge of a roof or balcony, or extending over the roof slopes above a party
or gable wall.

Parapet Gutter A gutter behind a parapet usually provided with a flexible metal or other impervious
lining.

Parging Plaster finish to the inside of a chimney flue.

Party Wall The wall which separates, but is shared by, adjoining properties.

Pediment A low pitched gable.

Pier A vertical column of brickwork or other material, used to strengthen the wall or to support a
weight.

Pitch The angle of slope to a roof.

Plasterboard Sandwich of plaster between paper. Commonly used for ceilings and partition walls.

Plinth The projecting base of a wall.

Plywood Board made from veneers of wood glued with the grain laid at right angles.

Pointing Outer edge of mortar joint between bricks, stones etc.

Purlin Horizontal beam in a roof providing intermediate support to the rafters.

PVCu (uPVC) Unplasticized polyvinyl chloride. Used in window frames and replacement eaves.

Quoin The external angle of a building, or bricks or stone blocks forming that angle.

Racking The distortion, or tendency to distort, laterally as in changing a rectangle to a non-rectangular

parallelogram.

Rafter A sloping roof beam, usually timber, forming the carcass of a roof.

Rail A horizontal part of a door frame or window.

Raked Pitched, sloping.

Relieving Arch An additional arch over a lintel.

Render Smooth or rough cast cement or lime based covering to a wall, either internally or externally,
sometimes with pebbledash or other textured finish.

Retaining Wall A wall built to hold back a bank of soil.

Reveal The side or top faces of a window or door opening.

Ridge The highest part or apex of a roof where two slopes meet.

Ridge Tile A specially shaped angular or half round tile for covering and making weather-tight the ridge
of a roof.

Riser The vertical part of a step or stair.

Rising Damp Moisture soaking up a wall from the ground by capillary action.

RSJ Rolled Steel Joist.

Rough Cast A rough render finish to external walls.

Sarking Felt used as an underlining to a roof.

Sash The frame of a window that holds the glass.

Screed Final smooth finish of a solid floor; usually cement or concrete.

Septic Tank Private drainage installation whereby sewage is collected into a chamber and decomposes
through the action of bacteria, with remaining solids requiring removal periodically, and liquids running
off to a water course or soakaway.

Settlement Downward movement resulting from failure of the components of the building, normally
the foundations. All properties settle to some extent, and this can show as cracking and/or distortion in
walls. Very often minor settlement is not of great significance to the building as a whole.

Sewer A large, underground pipe or drain used for conveying waste water and sewage. The Local
Authority is usually responsible for the sewers, which collect the effluent from various drains, the drains
being the responsibility of the land owners.

Shake A naturally occurring crack in timber. Shakes can appear quite dramatic, but strength is not
always impaired.

Shiplap Horizontal external boarding, usually timber or PVCu.

Shingles Small rectangular tiles of wood (often cedar) used on roofs instead of tiles, slates etc.
Sometimes also used to face walls.
Skeiling The raked (angled) part of a ceiling sometimes found at the perimeter of a top floor room,
being the plastered underside of the principal roof rafters. This occurs where the ceilings are set at a
level higher than the tops of the external walls.

Skylight A window set into a roof slope.

Soakaway A pit, filled with broken stones etc., below ground to take drainage from rainwater pipes or
land drains and allow it to disperse.

Soaker Piece of flexible metal fitted to interlock with slates or tiles and make a watertight joint
between a wall and a roof or at a hip or valley. Flashings are used over the soakers at a joint against a
wall or chimney.

Soffit The underside of an arch, beam, staircase, eaves or other feature of a building.

Soil Pipe A vertical pipe that conveys sewage to the drains. Its upper end it usually vented above the
eaves.

Soldier Course A horizontal course of bricks set on end over a window or door opening.

Spall Splitting of masonry, tiles, concrete etc., usually due to the freezing and expansion of trapped
water (frost damage).

Stop Cock A valve on a gas or water supply pipe which is used to cut off the supply.

Stop End The end piece of a gutter.

Stud Wall Lightweight wall construction comprising a framework of timber faced with plaster,
plasterboard or other finish.

Stretcher A brick or block laid lengthways.

String The sloping board to which the steps of a staircase are attached.

String Course A course of brickwork that projects beyond the face of an external wall.

Strut A support, usually to a purlin.

Subsidence Downward movement resulting from failure in the ground.

Sub-Soil Soil lying immediately below the topsoil.

Tie Bar Metal bar passing through a wall, or walls, in an attempt to brace a structure suffering from
structural instability, normally lateral.

Tingles Strips of lead or other metal used to hold slipped slates in position.
Torching Mortar applied on the underside of roof tiles or slates to help prevent moisture penetration.
Not necessary when a roof is underlined with felt.

Transom Horizontal bar of wood or stone across a window or top of door.

Tread The horizontal part of a step or stair.

Trimmed Joist Cut joist where an opening is formed in a ceiling, roof or floor, for example a roof hatch
or stairwell.

Truss A prefabricated triangular framework of timbers used in most modern roof constructions.

Underlining A lining of felt, PVC, or similar, laid over the rafters and beneath the tiles and battens, to
provide a second line of defence to a roof against weather penetration.

Underpinning Method of strengthening weak foundations whereby a new, stronger foundation is

placed beneath the original.

Valley Gutter Horizontal or sloping channel, usually lead or tile lined, at the internal intersection
between two roof slopes.

Verge The edge of the roof, especially over a gable, or around a dormer window or skylight.

Wall Plate Timber normally fixed on top of a wall to receive floor joists or roof rafters.

Wall Tie Usually a piece of metal bedded into the inner and outer leaves of a cavity wall to provide a
physical connection between the two.

Waste Pipe A pipe from a wash hand basin, sink or bath to carry away the waste water into the drains.

Weatherboard A board fixed externally to the bottom of a door to exclude driving rain.

Wet Rot (Coniophora puteana et al.). Decay of timber due to damp conditions. Not to be confused
with the more serious dry rot.

Weephole A small drain hole or gap in brickwork formed to allow the escape of water.

Woodworm Colloquial term for beetle infestation, usually intended to mean Common Furniture Beetle
(Anobium punctatum), by far the most frequently encountered insect attack in structural and joinery
timbers. The wood is attacked by the larvae of the beetle.